Pattern wheel with pivoted jacks supported by inserted wall members

ABSTRACT

Jacks pivotally mounted in a pattern wheel for movement between a needle actuating and a non-actuating position are supported in the wheel by and between insertable wall members which are located in slots of the wheel and are secured to the wheel by a bonding agent in contact with an arm of each of the wall members and with the wheel.

[ Dec. 31, 1974 1 PATTERN WHEEL WITH PIVOTED JACKS SUPPORTED BY INSERTEDWALL MEMBERS [751 Inventors: Harry Agulnek; Lester Mishcon,

both of Miami Beach, Fla.

[73] Assignee: The Singer Company, New York,

[22] Filed: Jan. 8, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 321,630

[52] U.S. CI 66/50 A [51] Int. Cl D04b 15/76 [58] Field of Search 66/50A, 40, 25, 156, 115

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/ 1935 Agulnek 2,055,5999/1936 Agulnek 66/50 A 2,140,078 12/1938 Hormocks et 66/50 A 3,643,4702/1972 Pernick 66/156 R- B M 5/1972 Mishcon 66/50 A 3,660,991 3,683,6458/1972 Audia 66/50 A 3,740,972 6/ 1973 Langham 66/50 A FOREIGN PATENTSOR APPLICATIONS 176,236 3/1922 Great Britain 962,128 l/l964 GreatBritain 66/1 15 1,128,944 5/1962 Germany 66/115 Primary Examiner-W. C.Reynolds Assistant Examiner-Andrew M. Falik Attorney, Agent, orFirm-Robert E. Smith; Edward L. Bell; William V. Ebs

[5 7 ABSTRACT Jacks pivotally mounted in a pattern wheel for movementbetween a needle actuating and a non-actuating position are supported inthe wheel by and between insertable wall members which are located inslots of the wheel and are secured to the wheel by a bonding agent incontact with an arm of each of the wall members and with the wheel.

2 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PATTERN WHEEL WITH PIVOTED JACKS SUPPORTEDBY INSERTED WALL MEMBERS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of theInvention The invention relates to pattern wheels for circular knittingmachines and more particularly is directed to such pattern wheels inwhich jacks are pivotally mounted for movement between aneedle-actuating position and a non-actuating position.

2. Description of the Prior Art It is known to pivotally mount jacks inpattern wheels, examples of pattern wheels in which jacks are pivotallymounted being shown for example a bonding agent such as in US. Pat. No.3,660,991 for Pattern Wheels with Pivotally Mounted Jacks issued May 9,1972 and British Pat. No. 176,236 for Improvements in or Relating toPatterning Devices for Circular Knitting Machines, applied for Feb. 10,1921.

The primary object of this invention is to provide an improved patternwheel with pivotal jacks, which is simple in construction, inexpensiveto manufacture and easy to repair.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The pattern wheel of the invention is providedwith wall members which are insertable in and removable from slots inthe wheel. Jacks pivotally mounted for movement between aneedle-actuating position and non-actuating position are supported inthe wheel by and between such wall members which are preferably securedto the wheel in a bed of molded plastic but may be secured in any othersuitable manner.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view takenthrough the diameter of the pattern wheel of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the manner in whichinserted walls are mounted in the pattern wheel of the invention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view showing jackspivotally mounted on inserted walls in said pattern wheel according tothe invention;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view showing an insertable wall memberapart from the pattern wheel and a jack pivotally mounted thereon;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view showing a modified insertablewall member and its associated jack;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view showing jackspivotally mounted on a wire hoop in the pattern wheel of the invention;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view similar to FIG. 3 butillustrating the use of a tucking ring providing a tuck level in thepattern wheel of the invention; and

FIG. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of an insertable wall memberadapted to provide a tuck level in a pattern wheel according to theinvention.

FIG. 6A is a view similar to FIG. '6 showing wall members according toFIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIGS. 1 through 4of the drawings, the pattern wheel 10 of the invention may be seen asineluding a ring 12, wall members 14 in evenly spaced slots 16 locatedin a peripheral marginal portion of the ring, jacks l8 pivotally mountedon the wall members, and a cover 20 securable to the ring 12 by screws22. Although the slots 16 appear in the drawings in only a portion thering and only a few selected wall members 14 are shown, it is to beunderstood that slots are provided all around the ring, that normallyeach slot 16 is fitted with a wall member 14, and that a jack isprovided between each pair of adjacent wall members.

Each wall member 14 includes a body portion 24, an upper arm 26 with anenlarged end portion 28, and a lower arm 30 having a finger 32 formedthereon. The enlarged end portion 28 of each upper arm 26 includes anelongated slot 34. The body portions 24 of the wall members extend'inpart into the slots 16 and in part project beyond the periphery of thering 12 to define needle-butt engaging walls 36. Arms 30 and fingers 32thereon extend into recesses 40 and 42 respectively formed in theunderside of ring 12 wherein they are secured as by applying a suitableplastic material 44, as for example, a bonding agent such as an epoxycement; about the parts and permitting it to harden in place to therebycause the parts to be bonded to the plastic and the plastic to be bondedto the ring.

Jacks 18 are pivotally mounted on the enlarged end portions 28 of theinserted wall members 14 and for this purpose are provided on one sidenear one end with a protuberance 46 which extends into elongated slot 34of a wall member. The jacks may be pivoted between a needle actuatingposition (position A) and a non-actuating position (position B). In theneedle actuating position the jacks extend toward the outer periphery ofthe ring and into a position between adjacent walls 36, whereas in thenon-actuating position the jacks extend away from the periphery of thering as shown.

When assembling the pattern wheel of FIGS. 1 through 4, the wall members14 are first inserted and secured in the ring 12, and thereafter thejacks 18 are mounted between adjacent wall members. The arms 26 of thewall members are flexed when mounting the jacks to accommodateprotuberance 46 as it is moved into registry with slot 34. In order toprovide such flexibility the wall members are perferably formed of thinsheet steel although any other hard durable material which issufficiently resilient may also be used.

Instead of providing a closed elongated slot 34 in the wall members 14to receive a protuberance 46 on a jack (FIGS. 1 through 4) each wallmember may instead be provided as shown in FIG. 5, with a slot 48 havingan opening 50 at one end which is smaller in size than the width of theslot and through which the protuberance 46 may be snapped to lodge theprotuberance in the slot and so pivotally mount the jack in the wallmember. Still another way of pivotally mounting the jacks in the patternwheel (see FIG. 6) involves having the jacks pivoted on a wire hoop 52,and having the ring extend not only through the jacks but also throughthe wall members 14 such that the ring and therefore the jacks thereonare supported by the wall members. When assemblinga pattern wheel, thejacks and wall members may all be strung on the wire hoop 52 as forexample, in the manner of keys on a split key ring and the wall membersthen inserted in the slots 16 of the pattern wheel ring. If anopen-ended slot is provided in the wall members only the jacks need bestrung on the wire hoop 52. The wall members may be first inserted inslots 16 and the ring with the jacks properly spaced thereon thensnapped into the open-ended slots of the wall members (FIG. 6A).

The cover is secured to ring 12 after jacks 18 are disposed in needleactuating and non-actuating positions as desired, and in its securedposition serves to maintain the jacks in place in the pattern wheel (seeFIGS. 1 and 2). The cover is fitted over boss 54 on a bearing 56 whichis affixed to the ring 12, and is secured to ring 12 with screws 22.

The pattern wheel bearing 56 has a central bore 58 in which there isprovided a sleeve 60 having an axial length slightly in excess of thebore and a stub shaft 62 having a foot 64 at one end. The other end 66of the shaft 62 is threaded to receive a nut 68 which may be tightenedto affix the position of the foot 64 in a slot on a knitting machine andmaintain the sleeve 60 stationary while the wheel is free to rotate onthe sleeve.

The pattern wheel to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 is a twoposition wheel, in thatwhen installed for operation on a machine, jacks which are in theneedle-actuating position are engageable with needle butts and effectivefor raising needles to a knit position, whereas jacks which are in anon-actuating position permit needles to pass through the pattern wheelwithout being raised. Such a pattern wheel is, however, convertible to athree-position wheel (FIG. 7) with the addition under the ring 12 of atucking ring 70 having teeth 72 extending beyond ring 12 and betweenselected spaces defined by walls 36 to provide surface 74 engageablewith needle butts and effective to raise needles to"tuck height when thejacks for such'selected spaces are in the non-actuating position. As analternative to the tucking ring 70, selected wall members 14 may beprovided as shown in FIG. 8 with a tab 76 extending at right angles tothe body portion 24 and providing a surface 78 for raising needles to atuck height.

While the invention has been described in its preferred form, it is tobe understood that the words which have been used are words ofdescription rather than of limitation, and that changes within thepurview of the appended claims may be made without departing from thetrue scope and spirit of the invention.

We claim:

I. A pattern wheel comprising a ring with slots in a peripheral marginalportion thereof; an insert in each slot, the inserts extending beyondthe slots and defining walls for the pattern wheels, each insertincluding a jack supporting arm and an additional arm; a bonding agentsolidified in place against each of the additional arms and the ring forsecuring the inserts to the ring; a plurality of pivotally mountedneedle-actuating jacks in said wheel supported by and situated betweensaid walls, the jacks being movable between a needleactuating and anon-actuating position; and a cover secured to said ring for holdingdown jacks in the actuating position and extending over jacks in thenonactuating position.

2. A pattern wheel as defined in claim 1 wherein the bonding agent is aplastic.

1. A pattern wheel comprising a ring with slots in a peripheral marginalportion thereof; an insert in each slot, the inserts extending beyondthe slots and defining walls for the pattern wheels, each insertincluding a jack supporting arm and an additional arm; a bonding agentsolidified in place against each of the additional arms and the ring forsecuring the inserts to the ring; a plurality of pivotally mountedneedle-actuating jacks in said wheel supported by and situated betweensaid walls, the jacks being movable between a needle-actuating and anonactuating position; and a cover secured to said ring for holding downjacks in the actuating position and extending over jacks in thenon-actuating position.
 2. A pattern wheel as defined in claim 1 whereinthe bonding agent is a plastic.